SPOILER ALERT!
To Weave a Web of Magic: Four Stories of Fantasy and Exquisite Romance
Check out my reviews at http://thewindowseat13.blogspot.com/ The Tale of the Two Swords, which is found in the anthology To Weave a Web of Magic, is the second Nine Kingdoms novella. I absolutely love the opening to this story. The whole novella is a story within a story. The story opens with young Harold wishing for an adventure. Since he is young, it is snowing outside, and he is recovering from a cold, he settles for an adventurous tale told by his father. The tale his father tells is The Tale of the Two Swords. If you have read the other Nine Kingdoms books, The Tale of the Two Swords is mentioned a time or two. And this is where we hear the full tale.
Mehar is a young woman with the ability to weave magical cloth. Unfortunately, her father, Robert of Angesand, doesn't appreciate much about Mehar and has decided to marry her off to an unpleasant suitor. Mehar takes her fate into her own hands and decides to flee on one of her father's horses, determined to take her pleas to the king. When she arrives at the palace, however, she discovers that a disaster has happened and instead of finding the king, she finds to young men who she believes are servants, Gil and Alcuin.
What Mehar doesn't realize is that Gil is in fact Prince Gilraehen, who, with the death of his father, is now king. Gil has been through a lot and the peace that Mehar brings to him and his current situation is welcome. He is happy to keep Mehar in the dark about his true identity. As the two spend time together, their attraction grows. As they put together the clues of each other's true identity, they realize that out of the disaster, together they can forge a new future for the kingdom of Neroche.
As I said, I liked the story. Yes, it is a bit rushed in places. But that is the nature of the short story. What I like about it is the charming character of Harold, the writing that, despite being a shortened story, is all Kurland, the beauty of the world of the Nine Kingdoms, and the love story that grows between the two characters.
